Advantage Capital today announced a $5 million investment in Pearson-based Cady Bag—a leading producer of polypropylene fabrics and bags—in connection with the Georgia Agribusiness and Rural Jobs Act (GARJA). The investment will help the company weather the economic impact of COVID-19 and its aftereffects, preserve its current jobs, and support continued business and job growth.

Cady Bag is a major employer in Atkinson County, located in southern Georgia where unemployment has more than doubled since March, largely due to the effects COVID-19 has had on the region. The company currently employs more than 100 people and has plans for steady job growth, primarily pulling from the local area.

“Cady Bag has been a part of this community for over 60 years, providing important jobs to the people who live here. This investment gives us the flexibility we need to ensure those jobs stay here,” said Doug Smith, President and CEO of Cady Bag.

Cady Bag is Advantage Capital’s sixth investment in connection with the GARJA program. Advantage Capital has now invested $20 million in small businesses across Georgia, which have helped support more than 300 full time jobs and economic growth in the state’s rural communities.

“Cady Bag is a great example of what the GARJA program aims to achieve—facilitating private investment capital into small, rural businesses. I am proud to see small businesses like this growing in our community and receiving the support they need,” said Georgia State Representative James Burchett.

The GARJA program was first passed in Georgia in 2017 and provides access to capital for small businesses such as Cady Bag. The program stimulates economic expansion in rural parts of the state that have not seen the same kind of economic prosperity urban areas have in recent years.

“I’ve been doing economic development work here in Georgia for 25 years. Access to capital has always been a struggle for rural areas of the state,” said Georgia Tech Economist Alfie Meek, Ph.D. “Programs like GARJA work and they have a proven track record of success in getting much needed capital to rural areas.”

Meek’s recent analysis of five companies that made investments in 33 Georgia businesses in connection with the GARJA program, found that these investments were directly responsible for the creation or retention of more than 1,000 jobs across rural Georgia.

“We have been able to achieve great results through our participation in the GARJA program, and it’s exciting to continue working with high-growth companies such as Cady Bag,” said Tim Perusek of Advantage Capital. “Each investment we make offers a customized financing solution for the company that positions it for future growth, enabling it to expand jobs in the communities where they are located.”